CHAPTER 11

¹And Zophar the Naamathite spoke out and he said:

              ²  Shall a swarm of words be unanswered,

                     and should   a smooth talker be in the right?

              ³Your lies may silence folk,

                     you mock and no one protests.

              ⁴And you say: my teaching is spotless,

                     and I am pure in your eyes.

              ⁵Yet, if only God would speak,

                     and would   open His lips against you,

              ⁶would tell you wisdom’s secrets,

                     for   prudence is double-edged.

                           And know,   God leaves some of your crime forgotten.

              ⁷  Can you find what God has probed,

                     can you find Shaddai’s last end?

              ⁸Higher than heaven, what can you do,

                     deeper than Sheol, what can you know?

              ⁹Longer than earth is its measure,

                     and broader than the sea.

              ¹⁰  Should He slip away or confine or assemble,

                     who can resist Him?

              ¹¹For He knows the empty folk,

                     He sees wrongdoing and surely takes note.

              ¹²And   a hollow man will get a wise heart

                     when a wild ass is born a man.

              ¹³  If you yourself readied your heart

                     and spread out your palms to Him,

              ¹⁴if there is wrongdoing in your hand, remove it,

                     let no mischief dwell in your tents.

              ¹⁵For then   you will raise your face unstained,

                     you will be steadfast and will not fear.

              ¹⁶For you will forget wretchedness,

                     like water gone off, recall it.

              ¹⁷And life will rise higher than noon,

                     you will soar, you will be like the morning.

              ¹⁸And you will trust, for there is hope,

                     will search, and lie secure.

              ¹⁹You will stretch out, and none make you tremble,

                     and many pay court to you.

              ²⁰And the eyes of the wicked will pine,

                     escape will be lost to them,

                           and their hope—a last gasp of breath.